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Accused JIS teachers fight back
The Jakarta International School (JIS) rebuffed allegations that its teachers had molested kindergarten students by issuing strong denials to reporters invited on Friday to visit the JIS kindergarten and elementary schoolâs administration office in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta
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he Jakarta International School (JIS) rebuffed allegations that its teachers had molested kindergarten students by issuing strong denials to reporters invited on Friday to visit the JIS kindergarten and elementary school's administration office in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta.
The mother of a JIS kindergarten student had authored a message and circulated it among other parents and school staff accusing three teachers of molesting students in the school's staff office.
The teachers mentioned in the message are American Elsa Donohue, principal of JIS kindergarten and elementary school; Canadian Neil Bantleman, JIS kindergarten teacher; and Indonesian Ferdinand Tjiong, JIS elementary school teaching assistant.
According to their lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, there was no truth to the accusations.
'The office wall is made out of transparent glass, and the office is always crowded with parents, teachers, administrators and security officers. There is no way anything strange could have happened in this office,' Hotman told reporters.
The office has dozens of rooms, all partitioned with glass so visitors from outside or inside the office can see clearly into each room.
'We constructed the office this way for transparency,' said Donohue.
The allegations, she said, were groundless. 'I don't understand why anyone would spread such a lie.'
Meanwhile, Bantleman asserted that the school's teachers or administrators had never molested or abused any children.
'We invited reporters here to see that the accusations are ridiculous. We never harass students,' he said.
In an attempt to clear the air between JIS and the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), Hotman and the three teachers also visited the KPAI's office in Central Jakarta on Friday to meet with its board of commissioners.
In the meeting, Hotman expressed outrage that the commissioners had told the media a teacher was 'indicated' to have sexually assaulted several children. He said that the commissioners had made the comments without
evidence.
'Tell me: Do you have any evidence [of the teachers molesting students]? The [victim's] parent's statement is not proof,' he snapped at KPAI commissioners during the meeting.
JIS lawyer Harry Ponto also said that the international school was planning to file a lawsuit against the KPAI for defamation.
Previously, Hotman accompanied his three clients, Donohue, Bantleman and Tjiong, to file a report with the Jakarta police of defamation against the mother who made the sexual assault allegations.
The message she wrote and circulated alleged that the three teachers cooperated to molest her child in the school's administration office. The message said Bantleman had sexually assaulted her son, assisted by Ferdinand, while Donohue videotaped the incident.
She was the second parent to file a sexual assault report against JIS employees with the National Police. The complaint was filed on May 24 and delegated to the Jakarta Police four days later.
The first report was made by the mother of a 6-year-old kindergarten pupil in April. The police have named six outsourced cleaners as suspects, one of which committed suicide while in police custody. (dwa)
